5* read absolutely gripping - such an original plot
Husband and wife with two lovely kids with a very dark secret ... this book unfolds telling a gripping story of secrets and lies with a twist that you won’t see coming. I was blown away a gem of a read

I found this book hard to get into and disappointing once I did. I was expecting more dark thriller and intrigue.

Absolutely amazing! This starts slow, building over the first few chapters to the point where you just can't put it down and finishes with an amazing ending (no spoilers!!) I stayed up all night to finish this, I just couldn't stop, LOVED the characters, even the supporting cast drew me in, just the right amount of suspense and creepiness. The first thing I did when I finished was try to find more from this author, I can't wait for the next one! I hope someone picks this up for a film, this could be the next 'Girl on the Train' - amazing!!

A great psychological thriller- a very dark yet exciting book. Strong plot and meaty characters. As you start to read this book you put into a false sense of security. But there is so much more.
Fabulous read.
Thank you to both NetGalley and Penguin UK for my eARC of this book in exchange for my honest unbiased review

My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing is a very clever psychological thriller that had me hooked.
Millicent and her husband have a happy marriage, a house in a nice area and two children who attend private school. Millicent works in real estate and her husband is a tennis coach. The couple have a secret that is dark, dangerous and deadly.
I believe that this is a debut novel and the author has written a story that kept me on the edge of my seat. I will be looking out for more of her work.
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin UK - Michael Joseph for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

My Lovely Wife is insane and I mean that in the best possible way! ;) Great plot, executed well and I was disappointed the story had to end. Dark and twisted fiction at its very best.

Millicent and Andy are such a fabulous couple. They have two children and are successful in their jobs. There’s just one problem, they like to get away with murder! When a body is discovered of a girl Millicent makes out that she wanted to frame a local serial killer who had disappeared but there are knock on effects. Andy lures the women and she kills them. Can they make this one the last?

Jeepers! How creepy is Millicent? Controlling, demanding and manipulative! I loved this book. Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Oh my word! I have never read a book like this before....
Imagine you met the love of your life, your lovely wife, in your early twenties. You had a slightly “off” courtship, then got married, had kids and lived a normal life in a normal community. Then imagine youkilled your wife’s sister by accident. Then your wife killed her sisters friend but it was no accident.. then there was a third....and a fourth....and......
Imagine you and your wife rationalise and justify your actions....imagine lying to your kids, your community, imagine you thought you knew all this
Then imagine you were wrong.. about everything. includ8ng your lovely wife......


Read it!

“This, this, is how we can be free. This is the one thing that is ours, that we control. Thanks to Millicent.”

Tobias (it’s not his real name - it’s the one he gives to women he meets under certain circumstances - but it’s the only one we have for him) narrates this bizarre and twisted story of him and his lovely wife, who rejoices in the rather unlovely name of Millicent. They lead an apparently normal life with their two teenage children, Rory and Jenna. Millicent, a strong and dominant character, is firm about rules - no phones at the table, meals will be healthy, family movie night will happen once a week. Millicent keeps everybody organised. And Millicent and not-Tobias have an unusual way of keeping excitement alive in their marriage: murder.

Both do the planning, Millicent does the dirty work, as it were, and it’s soon apparent that she doesn’t tell her husband everything...

We see everything from not-Tobias’s point of view. We don’t see Millicent’s; or at least, only as filtered through his, and it’s clear that he doesn’t know her as well as he thinks. We don’t see that of the abducted women.

I spent so much time, probably too much, trying to get my head around the psychology of these people and how they end up the way they are. Tobias is evidently capable of feeling guilt and shame - he feels bad about the effects of the murders on people close to him (including his daughter, who develops an anxiety disorder), but it never seems to occur to him to feel bad about the murdered women, although he knew things about their lives and even liked at least one of them. He doesn’t necessarily want to know the details of what happens to them at his wife’s hands, indeed he prefers not to think about it, but he’s nevertheless thoroughly on board with the whole thing. And Millicent... well, Millicent is just incomprehensible. I never really understood her motivations and I still don’t, even after revelations towards the end. Both seem to lack any kind of conscience about the murders, which are portrayed by Tobias as a kind of extra-risky hobby or shared interest.

Tobias’s capacity for self-deception is remarkable. At one point he imagines someone being arrested for the murders - someone who deserves it even if they haven’t committed these particular ones, a bad person who he pictures as “a disheveled, slovenly man with crazy eyes”. Nothing like his lovely wife.

(I’m not sure their planning was as good as they thought, by the way - the Owen deception, in particular, hardly seems foolproof.)

An addictively twisted read which will mess with your head.

Oh and by the way, I live in Aberdeen, Scotland.... Time to start worrying? Thanks a lot, Samantha Downing!

My Lovely Wife started out very good and very quickly it became great. For a debut thriller I was totally blown away. It features murder, secrets and lies and is a lacy thriller that I guarantee you’ll be unable to put down.

I thoroughly enjoyed every page of this book and look forward to reading more from Samantha Downing.

Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin UK Michael Joseph and the author for the chance to review.

With a serial killer on the loose, is anyone safe? The family are your typical ordinary family, two kids, but when there the news are updating with missing women almost daily, it starts to affect the teenage daughter.
What really does go on behind closed doors? Is the series killer from twenty years ago attacking young women again? There were so many twists and turns in this book, I couldn't put it down. Even the ending where I thought I knew everything....
A must read.

Excellent thriller, normal family life meshed in with the very abnormal. Compelling characters mean the readers moral compass is almost as compromised as the characters. Don't start this late in the day unless you want to read through the night, you will be gripped by this clever creepy book. This is an author I will look out for in the future. Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin for providing me with this free ARC.

Wow, this book had me gripped from the get go. I could not wait to find out what was happening. I was completely absorbed by the characters. A husband and wife leading a normal life on the surface, digging deeper they have a deadly secret between. Samantha Downing manages to put you right in the thick of it a real rollacoaster of emotions and a white knuckle ride! Definately suffering from a book hang over after this.
If you are looking for a thrill a minute, psychological experience this is the book for you. I highly recommend it.

This book is like an episode of Criminal Minds - it's so intense!

Millicent and her husband have been married for 17 years and like any marriage of that length they need to work at keeping the magic alive and like lots of other couples, they arrange a 'date night'...,however, their date nights are in their garage as they plot murder most horrid.

It's a book that keeps you on it's toes, you have no idea where it;'s going, are they really going to get away with it or is the net closing in?

Just when you think you have worked it out the author yells, 'PLOT TWIST' and you're flying by the seat of your pants right up until the last line.

Great read, very twisted!

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to review this book, this is my honest opinion.

Wow!!! I was blown away by this book. It kept twisting and turning through a story about torture and murder and distrust. I did not see the ending coming and was shocked at how the whole thing turned out. I could not put this book down.

This book is everything!

It is a beautiful mix of Dexter meets Mr and Mrs Smith. A husband and wife, happily married who as a hobby kill young women.
The blurb already gripped me from the moment I read it so I was very eager to start reading.

I had an idea of where I thought the story would go. Boy, was I wrong. I did feel that the main character was annoying. He seemed like he could not understand why this would happen to him, or what he did wrong. I was kinda pleased with everything that was happening, since I felt that he had it coming.
All in all, this is a fantastic read!

Wow! The book kept me awake all night. Great plot, great unpredictable twist. Couldn't sunshine a better thriller. Trying to balance great family life as the desire to kill can't be easy. Living with someone who loves to kill, makes you feel excited about it too... Fully recommended. One of best books I have read for a long time

What a great book , it built up gradually showing the interaction between two obviously deranged parents and their children . I loved that the ending didn’t go on too long like some novels do . Well done to this author , I can’t wait for the next book

If you like thrillers with a bit of darkness you will love this book and really won't want to miss it, a true page turner from the beginning and yes people always say that but for me this is a book that defines page turner.
The stereo family husband and wife Millicent a boy Rory and a girl Jenna both teenagers but Mum and Dad have really bad habits but you'll discover that yourself when you read the book.. The bad news everyone is talking about is the serial killer who is killing the odd local Lady and the police and press are all focused on Owen a Psycho who was active a few years ago and seems to have returned to his old haunt and old habit. It's the topic of all the gossip and all tongues seem to be focused on Owen as well. The family we are with are hit by their daughter and her fear of being the next victim and Rory has found away to blackmail his Dad what is happening that is what I can't say as Samantha is better at telling that than I can ever be so you will have to read her thriller yourself.
There are so many brilliant twists and turns you will be left blown away or rather I was, even the one I guessed still managed to throw me when it came
I had a sleepless night as I could not put this thriller down and read far longer than I intended which is just how a good book should be I think. The characters are believable which given the subject matter is genius and the twist are believable as well and not far fetched like some I have read. For me this was a fantastic book and one I think you may well love also. Even the sub plots blend in well and are so natural that they definitely enhance the plot even if Faiths parents are the short you want to slap but you will need to read the book to see that and I hope you do.

Many thanks to Samantha Dowling and Penguin UK for the opportunity to read and review this book. My Lovely Wife is a complex,dark and intriguing read. A normal, everyday couple take on the extracurricular activity of murder. Prepare for the twists, and clear the diary.